Do our fans get amnesia when a player goes out on loan or is injured?

[Ellis_D]

I think every miller could see Smallwood's influence diminished last season but for me not half as much as people on here proclaim. With Smallwood and Halford screening the back four and Frecklington nipping away at peoples ankles, all over the park, we were much more resilient under Warnock. Smallwood has his limitations, his passing leaves something to be desired and he slows down the game too much, but the fact remains that he was our best tackler, I don't see how anyone could dispute that. The decision to let an established permanent player go and replace him with a raft of unproven loanees was completely and utterly senseless. A club like ours has to build on what they have, not plug gaps with short term acquisitions. Forster Caskey, Allen and Vaulks have not improved on Richie at all and now 2 of them are out of the door. Oh dear, oh dear.

You keep banging on about these "youthful talented players" that Stubbs brought in? Who are they exactly?
Scott Allan? Jake Forster-Caskey? Dael Fry? Dominic Ball? Surely not, they've all been shipped out because they're simply not good enough.
Darnell Fisher? Maybe but he's pretty inconsistent at the moment and has a lot to learn.
Izzy Brown? Maybe but he drifts in and out of games, he's not ours, and it looks like Chelsea are going to recall him anyway.
So not much there to write home about.
Then there are the other Stubbs star signings Kelvin Wilson and Dexter Blackstock.
Wow, what a godawful mess he's left behind 😠 but you, and you alone continue to sing his praises. Utterly bizarre when you look at the facts.

I completely agree with these two posts. And to add, if Smallwood had pace and was a better passed, he would have been playing for a far better club than us. Fact is, he did a job for us that no-one else could, especially none of Stubbs' sh!te signings.

[Shark27]

I completely agree with these two posts. And to add, if Smallwood had pace and was a better passed, he would have been playing for a far better club than us. Fact is, he did a job for us that no-one else could, especially none of Stubbs' sh!te signings.

Smallwood put himself into positions to snuff out attacks before they happened. He wasn't the best passer and didn't like attacking but he did a good (defensive midfield) job as you say.

[fivetide]

That's basically it - breaks up play. We need that at the moment. Yeah, sideways passes but with Frecks on a bit of form or maybe Vaulks pushing forward because he looks better on the edge of the opposition box than the edge of ours it could work.

Remember, Talbot never passed a ball forwards. He won it and laid it off to Watson to ping about the pitch. We could do with someone who will get a foot on the ball and play a simple pass that keeps us possession right now. He could do a job for warne I think.

[frogmiller]

That's basically it - breaks up play. We need that at the moment. Yeah, sideways passes but with Frecks on a bit of form or maybe Vaulks pushing forward because he looks better on the edge of the opposition box than the edge of ours it could work.

Remember, Talbot never passed a ball forwards. He won it and laid it off to Watson to ping about the pitch. We could do with someone who will get a foot on the ball and play a simple pass that keeps us possession right now. He could do a job for warne I think.

Happy times

[leedsmiller]

Being a 'boro lad he'd relish the chance to play at Newcastle.